After years of training in a damp, old castle under the tutelage of your wise mentor, you are finally ready to wander the Continent and do your job - hunt deadly monsters! Be you an agile member of the School of the Cat or a hulking brute from the School of the Bear, you must pick up your swords and venture forth to collect your trophies and earn your keep.
The Witcher: Old World (Deluxe) is a magnificent homage to Andrzej Sapkowski’s intricately crafted world of ‘The Witcher’ which also inspired the world-renowned video games by CD Projekt Red. This complex and beautiful board game puts your destiny in your hands by introducing some interesting mechanics, wonderful artwork and riveting choices as you venture through the Continent to hunt down your prizes before your opponents.
The Aim
The aim of the game is relatively straightforward; be the first to reach a certain number of trophies and declare yourself the greatest Witcher to roam the continent. One can go about obtaining these trophies in a few ways, mainly by the traditional slaying of monsters, competitive combat between Witchers (keeping the rivalry alive!) and also by maxing out one of your skills and meditating to perfect it.
Claiming these trophies is easier said than done as rushing into combat on your first turn will surely see you fumble. Fear not, however, as the game is designed to keep you well entertained until you are strong (or brave) enough to face your challenges.
The Game
This board game leans heavily into the role-playing aspect you would expect of most video games of the same genre. You select a unique character, level up their skills throughout your adventure and generally have a very involved decision-driven experience which is rather rewarding.
Each turn is comprised of 3 main phases:
1) Movement & Actions
2) Fighting/Meditating/Exploration
3) Drawing Cards/Building your Deck
During the first phase, you use cards to move from location to location, performing unique actions in each town or city as indicated on the board. These actions usually involve gaining currency, potions and levelling up skills to help you toughen up to face your first foe. The next phase is usually where a player would obtain a trophy, either by combat (defeating a monster or Witcher) or by meditating after maxing out a skill. The final phase provides players with an opportunity to permanently add cards to their decks which is important as these cards are used to travel and fight. It is good to note that during phase 3 of a player’s turn, phase 1 of the next player’s turn can begin which moves the game forward slightly quicker.
The main components and mechanics used throughout gameplay involve one or more decks of cards. In a clever attempt to provide the players with ample choices, movement, combat and exploration are all managed using cards. The player’s hands/decks serve a dual purpose which is a fantastic way to consolidate functions into a single card type. Cards contain different symbols in the bottom-left corner which govern the movement mechanic, whilst their colour coding and top left symbols come into play during combat. Overall a smart use of resources which aids in simplifying some aspects of the game.
As with any RPG, players also have the opportunity to use consumable items (potions) to aid in their encounters with deadly foes. These cards directly affect combat and a Witcher’s skills during an encounter with a beast or opposing Witcher. Realistically, you also only have space for a few, so you’ll need to decide which to keep for a rainy day and which to use regularly.
Monsters also utilise a couple of separate card types to define any strengths/weaknesses and determine how a monster attacks. Instead of relying on a random roll of the dice, the monster fighting deck. serves as an interesting device not only for the attacker but also for the players taking on the roles of the monster and the observer (if any). Choices these players make may significantly affect the encounter and final outcome.
The last set of cards I’ll discuss are my favourite; the exploration cards. To me, the element of exploration, particularly in an RPG-esque game in such a well known franchise is critical to the overall success. If a player is not invested in all the decisions they need to make, then the adventure will not be enjoyable. However, if posed with immersive and interesting interactions that really make a player weigh their options in a thematic setting such as this, the experience is elevated. The Witcher: Old World does this brilliantly, not only with the script incorporated into these cards but also through the consequences of every decision made. This is not a mere illusion of choice where the outcome does not really affect the players much. If you make the right choice, you’ll be rewarded greatly whilst a wrong choice will see you punished, which could result in your undoing.
In addition to cards, other components include boards, poker dice, tokens and most importantly, monster mini-figures. The monster figures are intricately designed and are very true to the creatures encountered in the Witcher video games. That being said, all the artwork is directly inspired by these video games (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in particular!) and as such are beautiful to play with. They further push you into the immersive RPG feel that makes the game so enjoyable.
The poker dice are a fun little mechanic introduced to accrue currency in the game. The rules are as straightforward (more so) as standard poker. Each player will roll their set of 5 poker dice and try to beat their opponent’s ‘hand’ (pair, two pairs, three-of-a-kind, etc.). A nice break from the strenuous fighting and exploring which has the game dip its toe into the luck element of gameplay.
The Flame
There are a few things that really make this game great and I’ll do my best to summarise them below:
- Exploration: As mentioned above, giving a player a weighty choice makes them feel important. It puts the players in their Witcher’s shoes and paints a detailed picture of the scene unfolding before them. Will your choice provide you with an opportunity to obtain a powerful item or make some hefty coin or will you lose focus and along with it a skill point or two? Who knows!? The excitement is palpable!
- Aesthetic: The video games that popularised this franchise did so for a few reasons, but one of them is that they painted a beautiful scene and immersed the players in the world of The Witcher. This game tries to replicate that and does a stellar job. The attention to detail is incredible. The miniatures, cards, tokens, boards and dice look amazing and feel great too. The artwork and materials used really help bring this colourful world to life and should be considered a great feat.
- Dice poker!: Call me silly but I love the idea of a mini-game within a board game. Thematic, has purpose, and people enjoy rolling dice. What’s not to like?
- Replayability: The combination of Witchers, monsters and exploration cards make each playthrough a unique experience. As someone who plays board games very often, replayability is very high on my list of ‘must haves’ in games since repetition may become quite boring. Luckily, although the game is long, it will be new every time you play it.
The Lame
Just as each game has its highlights, there are oftentimes a few elements which may not be as popular. I have summarised a couple of these points below:
- Complexity: Don’t get me wrong, I love a complex game and from all the games I’ve played, this one isn’t the most difficult. However, it is true that there are a lot of rules. The 36-page rulebook goes into a lot of detail and being such a different game to most things I’ve played, it takes me around an hour to go through the rules with people who are new to the game.
- Time: Although the game claims to take between 1.5 to 2.5 hours, my first playthrough with friends took closer to 5. That is not to say it will always take this long; bear in mind it is a complex game and might be more sluggish on the first couple of games. However, if you commit to this game and play it at least 3-4 times in the space of a few months, you can definitely whittle the time down to 1.5 hours. Practice makes perfect!
The Claim
Overall, this is a fantastic game. If you are an avid board-game player, a Witcher lover or even a casual gamer, the game has something for everyone. Engaging mechanics, beautiful aesthetics and components and weighty decision-making. The one tip I’d give anyone playing this game is to immerse yourself and embrace the role-playing element of it. If you’re dedicating a couple of hours to this game, you may as well make an event of it. Embrace your inner monster-hunter and explore the continent with family and friends.
Overall Rating - 85/100
Artwork - 5
Complexity - 4
Replayability - 4
Player interaction - 4
Component quality - 5
Likes:
- Artwork and components are beautiful
- High replayability
- Well balanced
- Dice poker mechanic is a welcome break from the decisions and thinking
- Choices made have weighty consequences
Dislikes:
- Rather long playtime (until one becomes very familiar with the rules)
- Lengthy setup
- May be slightly too complex for newcomers
- Analysis Paralysis (too many decisions) for some players
- Bulky
